Monday, September 15, 2008

Dems, taxes, and hypocrisy

Rep. Charlie Rangel, chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, seems not to have paid his personal taxes. The AP reports:

Rangel, chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, is already the subject of ethics committee investigations on several fronts, including unreported income and unpaid taxes on his beach house in the Dominican Republic. ....

Among the new discrepancies:

_Rangel's papers over the past 10 years show no reference to the sale of a home he once owned on Colorado Avenue in Washington.

_The details of a property bought in Sunny Isles, Fla., are bewildering at best. The stated value changes significantly from year to year, and even page to page, from $50,000 to $100,000 all the way up to $500,000.

_Some of the entries for investment funds fluctuate strangely, suggesting that the person either didn't have accurate information or didn't fill out the paperwork correctly.

Rangel spent the past week trying to answer questions about his ethics and his finances.

He admitted he owes the Internal Revenue Service about $5,000 in back taxes for unreported income from the rental of his vacation villa, and probably a smaller amount to state and city tax collectors.

RELATED: Former senator Wellstone and senate candidate and failed talk show host Al Franken, both of Minnesota, had problems paying taxes owed. This appears to be part of a pattern in which liberals seem to believe that rules apply only to others. Confirming this pattern are poll results, from Pew, in which 57% of those who describe themselves as "very liberal" think it OK to cheat on taxes.